Zip Lining in the Jungle

Our last full day in Belize gave us some pretty good relaxing time in the morning followed by Central America's longest zip line in the afternoon.

This was actually our first day that we didn't have a morning adventure so we took our time getting up and heading to breakfast before getting some solid reading time in.  I curled up on the porch and EDP headed down to the beach.  After lunch, it was time to head over to the Bocawina Zip Line.

We had a big group - there were 9 of us and 4 guides.  We got buckled into our harnesses and helmets and off we went to start climbing up into the jungle.  After a test run (I think there was an escape hatch after it...) we climbed up some more.  In total, there were 8 runs - all different lengths and speeds.  The longest one was almost a half mile long and you could get up to speeds of 30 mph.  It was a lot of fun, we got to see a lot of the jungle and I didn't lose either of my shoes!  Though, at one point, we had to be dropped via rope about 15 feet.  That wasn't so fun.  I think every lady in our group screamed when the drop happened.  I'm pretty sure I heard EDP laughing at me when I started freaking out.  But the rest of it totally made up for that!  What a great way to end our trip.

After zip lining, it was back for one last dinner and to pack up before heading out Sunday morning.  We had an even smaller plane taking us back to Belize City - this one only held 8 passengers and while I needed a step stool to get off the plane, EDP was able to just step right onto the pavement.  Two more flights saw us safely back to Toronto and now it's back to reality.  And laundry.  

More Snorkelling and Visiting Mayan Ruins

Yesterday was our second snorkel day. It was a much larger group than our first trip - no private tour for us. We were in the water twice with a break in between for cookies and fruit. On our first trip into the water, one of the other women got stung by a jellyfish so that wasn't much fun for her but we saw an enormous barracuda along with a few stingrays and tonnes of beautiful fish. Our second trip into the water took us right into the barrier reef which was awesome. Again, lots of fish to see.

After we got back to the resort, it was time for some reading and then we took a walk up the beach to check out some of the other places. Obviously, ours is the best. By the time we got back, a local drumming group was setting up to perform. I wanted to listen but EDP was ready to relax in the hammock for a bit and on our trip back to the treehouse, Orchid (one of the resort's cats) stalked us the whole way back, culminating with leaping into the hammock after EDP settled himself in it. She cozied down awfully quickly and when he came to join me in the main building, he said she was still curled up on the hammock. The drumming group was very enjoyable to listen to. They had a couple of dancers, two drums and a set of maracas. They sang mostly about everyday things in the language of the village, Garifuna.

Today was a long day. We had a 7am start with a 2.5 hour drive inland to visit two Mayan sites. The first was small but had been fairly extensively excavated so we were able to see lots of detail of how things were set up. The second site was much larger but hasn't been fully excavated. We climbed the multipurpose building, which was 9 stories high. It took over 300 years to build with each priest adding a new level. We climbed to the very top of the building which gave us amazing views of Belize and Guatemala. It was such an impressive structure and baffling that it was still standing after being abandoned around 1000AD. Our guide, Harfield taught us a lot about Mayan culture throughout the day, which was so helpful in understanding what we were looking at.

Tomorrow is our last full day. We're ziplining the longest zipline in Central America - one line is almost a mile long!

Cave Tubing

Whoa, today was awesome. We had a long drive up to another resort in the mountains for cave tubing and it was totally worth it. We each had an inner tube and once we reached the river, we had to back paddle upstream into the cave. Once inside, we alternated between walking and tubing deeper into the cave until we were about a half a mile from the entrance. We got to see many different kinds of stalactites and stalagmites, climb up into little caverns with ancient Mayan pottery and fire pits, and see the odd bat here or there. Some of the stalactites we saw had crystals and positively shimmered, others were a lovely shade of red from iron, some even looked like bacon! Our guide, Pablo, was wonderful, telling us about all the different things we were seeing. We had headlamps, which was very helpful because as you can imagine, it's pretty dark in a cave. Once we had reached the end of the cave, we had a picnic lunch by headlamp. It was the best cave picnic I've ever been on. Once lunch was done, we got to float back to the mouth of the cave. We floated mostly in the dark, which was fine for someone my height but EDP hit his head a few times on the rocks. I did manage to beach myself once or twice in shallow areas and after I fell out of the current a few times, Pablo held onto my tube to keep me from falling too far behind. Once we were back at the cave entrance, we made our way out of the water and EDP had a couple of fun jumps off a cliff into the water. Then it was back to change into dry clothes and head back to Hamanasi. Now, it's happy hour and we're reading with a couple of delicious drinks before dinner!

Kayaking down the Sittee River

This morning was a lazy one for us. We didn't have to meet our adventure guide until 9am! After a late breakfast, we headed off to meet Arne, our guide for kayaking down the Sittee River. It was a relaxed trip - and not just because EDP did most of the work. We started in a creek, which was covered in a canopy of tree branches. Then we made it out to the river. It was wide and slow and we were following the current so we could be a bit lazy sometimes. We saw lots of herons and iguanas but no crocodiles. I can only assume they heard I was coming and hid in fear.

After making it back to the resort, we had lunch and some lazy pool reading before heading off for massages. Very relaxing! Now, it's ,ore reading time before dinner and then it'll be an early night as we have an early wake up tomorrow for cave tubing!

Swimming under a Waterfall

Today was an early morning for us. At 7, we met our guide, Alfredo, and headed to the Mayflower Bocawina National park to hike up to a swimming pool at Antelope Falls. Along the way, Alfredo pointed out various birds, plants, insects, tress, etc. that were in the Belizian rainforest we were hiking through. The first part of the hike was easy going - normal foresty trails. Then things began to get steeper and stairs appeared to help us out. The stairs really got your heart rate going! Finally, the stairs gave way to steep rocks and roots. There were ropes to help us up and did they ever come in handy! Along the way, there were a few places where we could stop and see the the falls. We climbed just over 700 feet and the falls were along side us most of the way - and went up even higher than we did. After a few challenging rope/rock/roots sections, we were rewarded with a swimming hole under part of the waterfall. The water was "refreshing" but totally wonderful after the hike up. EDP and I spent a few minutes directly under the falls, enjoying the massage-like effect of them. It was stunningly beautiful and a wonderful experience. And nothing like anything I've ever done before. Then, it was back down the way we came - taking less time than it did to go up.

This afternoon has been filled with a delicious Hawaiian pizza, some reading in a hammock on the beach, a long nap and more reading. We're off to dinner soon and then I suspect it'll be another early night. Tomorrow, we're kayaking along the Jungle a River. EDP informs me that the person in back steers so I can look forward to a front row seat!

Swimming with the Fishies

We've made it to Belize! After a very early wake up call on Saturday (2:30am) and three flights, including the puddle-iest of puddle jumpers, we've arrived at Hamanasi. After lunch and a brief orientation, we made our way to our treehouse, which is fricking amazing. We've got a fabulous porch with a hammock that EDP tried out early on plus a fantastically large room and a lovely bathroom. After relaxing a bit, we went to the Adventure Center to finalize our activities and then had an early dinner followed by an early bed.

Today, we had our first adventure - snorkelling! And we were the only people on the boat so we had our own private snorkel tour with our guide, Neal and our captain, John. It was amazing! With the salt water, I just bobbed around, trying to take it all in. We had the GoPro going so hopefully, we got some good pictures. We saw tonnes of fish, including angel fish and a bunch of different kinds of parrot fish. Plus, we saw a fish that looked just like the rainbow fish from that kid's book! We also saw a couple of octopuses (octopi?) and lots of lobsters. Oh, and a really ugly worm that I thought Neal was going to touch me with. And I definitely flailed and panicked. And EDP definitely laughed. We did two snorkels. One was out in the reef and one was closer to the shore of an island. I really surprised myself with how much I loved it, I can't wait to go again later this week,

After returning to the resort, we had lunch and then hung out by the pool for a bit. Then it was time for our private beachside dinner. We had a little table set up out by the water, away from the buildings of the resort. It was really nice, though I got quite chilly by the end. Now, we're heading back to the treehouse for what will definitely be an early bedtime. Tomorrow, we are taking a waterfall hike and it leaves pretty early. Plus, we've totally earned a good sleep after our snorkelling.